Aligned Data Centers’ $40B Nuclear Bet: How SMRs Will Power AI in 2025

Industry Adoption: Aligned Data Centers Shifts from Power Consumer to Energy Producer

Between 2021 and 2024, the data center industry’s relationship with nuclear power was largely defined by exploration and pioneering agreements from hyperscale tech giants. As AI’s power demands began to outstrip grid capacity, companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft forged initial partnerships with small modular reactor (SMR) developers and utilities to secure future energy. Amazon’s acquisition of the Susquehanna nuclear-powered data center campus in March 2024 and Google’s Master Plant Development Agreement with Kairos Power in October 2024 were foundational moves, creating a blueprint for co-locating power generation with data consumption. This period established SMRs as the most viable long-term solution for providing reliable, carbon-free, baseload power, but adoption remained in the hands of the end-users of the data centers themselves.

The landscape shifted dramatically in 2025, marking an inflection point from exploration to execution, with Aligned Data Centers emerging as a central figure. The pivotal event was Aligned’s acquisition in October 2025 for approximately $40 billion by the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), a consortium including BlackRock, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. This transaction transformed Aligned from a data center operator into the physical infrastructure backbone for the world’s leading AI firms. The acquisition, coupled with a $12 billion funding round in January 2025 for AI-focused buildouts, provided Aligned with the capital and strategic mandate to solve the power problem directly. Consequently, Aligned’s strategy evolved. In July 2025, the company publicly announced it was considering SMRs for its expanding Ohio campus, signaling a move to become an integrated energy provider. This shift demonstrates a new phase of adoption where the infrastructure provider, not just the tenant, takes control of the energy supply chain, viewing resilient power as a core product offering. The simultaneous deployment of a 31-megawatt battery system in October 2025 highlights a sophisticated, two-speed strategy: utilizing mature technologies for immediate grid challenges while pursuing capital-intensive SMRs as the definitive long-term solution.

Table: Aligned Data Centers’ Strategic Investments

Table: Aligned Data Centers’ Strategic Partnerships

Geography of Aligned Data Centers’ Nuclear Ambitions

Between 2021 and 2024, the geographic focus for nuclear-powered data centers was established by hyperscalers in key US states. Amazon’s activities centered on Pennsylvania (Talen Energy campus) and Virginia (Dominion Energy partnership), while the NuScale-Standard Power agreement targeted Ohio and Pennsylvania. These regions became early frontrunners due to a combination of massive data center growth, existing nuclear expertise, and relatively favorable regulatory outlooks. The trend was clear: data center alleys were driving the search for co-located, gigawatt-scale power, primarily within the United States.

In 2025, Aligned Data Centers sharpened this geographic focus. The company explicitly named its expanding campus in Ohio as a primary location for its SMR exploration. This move validates the Midwest as a critical nexus for future energy-intensive computing and signals a concrete step from broad industry interest to site-specific planning. By targeting Ohio, Aligned is building on the groundwork laid by others while concentrating its significant new capital in a region with a clear need. Looking forward, the company’s strategy will likely involve expansion into other nuclear-ready states like Virginia, Georgia, and Texas, indicating that its geographic footprint will be increasingly dictated not just by fiber connectivity, but by favorable nuclear regulatory environments and grid constraints.

Technology Maturity of Aligned Data Centers’ Power Strategy

In the 2021–2024 period, the maturity of SMR technology advanced significantly, moving from design to demonstration. NuScale Power achieved its landmark standard design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), while developers like Kairos Power began constructing demonstration reactors (Hermes). For data centers, SMRs were a promising but pre-commercial technology, validated primarily on paper and through regulatory milestones. The most mature application of nuclear power for data centers was Amazon’s direct offtake from an existing, conventional nuclear plant, a model with limited scalability.

The year 2025 marks a shift from SMR *technology* validation to SMR *commercial* validation. Aligned Data Centers’ public interest in SMRs signals to the market that a major, well-capitalized buyer is now actively evaluating deployment. The company’s strategy is to leverage a “behind-the-meter” approach, insulating its campuses from grid volatility—a mature commercial strategy now being paired with an emerging generation technology. The key maturity signal is Aligned’s concurrent investment in a 31 MW battery system. This deployment of a fully commercial, mature technology serves as a crucial bridge solution, addressing immediate power needs while acknowledging that SMRs are not yet commercially available at scale (full commercialization is anticipated around 2030). This two-pronged approach reveals a sophisticated understanding of the technology landscape: use what is mature today to enable growth, while making credible, long-term bets on what will be necessary tomorrow.

Table: SWOT Analysis of Aligned Data Centers’ SMR Strategy

Forward-Looking Insights and Summary

The data from 2025 signals that Aligned Data Centers’ pivot to nuclear power is not a speculative venture but a core strategic imperative, underwritten by its new AI-focused owners. The $40 billion acquisition by AIP acts as the ultimate market signal, validating that access to massive, reliable power is now the primary bottleneck for AI growth, and positioning Aligned to solve it. This move transforms the company’s risk profile and competitive posture, shifting it from a real estate operator to a future energy and infrastructure kingmaker.

Looking ahead, market actors should watch for three critical signals that will determine the pace and success of Aligned’s strategy. First, a formal partnership announcement with a specific SMR developer (such as X-energy, NuScale, or GE Hitachi) will move the plan from exploration to implementation. Second, any regulatory filings with the NRC for siting a reactor at its Ohio campus will provide the first concrete timeline and test of the project’s real-world viability. Finally, look for specific capital allocation announcements from AIP earmarked for Aligned’s nuclear feasibility studies and engineering designs. The success or failure of Aligned’s nuclear gambit will likely set the precedent for the entire data center industry, determining whether on-site nuclear generation becomes the standard for powering the next era of artificial intelligence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Aligned Data Centers pursuing nuclear power?
Aligned Data Centers is pursuing nuclear power, specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), because the massive power demands of AI are beginning to exceed the capacity of the existing public grid. SMRs offer a long-term solution for reliable, carbon-free, baseload power that is independent of grid constraints, allowing Aligned to become an integrated energy provider for its AI-focused clients.

What was the significance of the $40 billion acquisition by AIP?
The acquisition by the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP)—a consortium including BlackRock, Microsoft, and NVIDIA—was pivotal. It transformed Aligned from a data center operator into the primary infrastructure backbone for top AI firms and provided the immense capital and strategic mandate needed to pursue costly, long-term projects like SMRs.

When will Aligned’s nuclear-powered data centers be operational?
The article suggests this is a long-term strategy. While Aligned announced its interest in SMRs in 2025, the text notes that full commercialization of SMR technology is not expected until around 2030. Therefore, an operational SMR at an Aligned campus is likely several years away, pending partnership announcements and regulatory approvals.

If the goal is nuclear power, why did Aligned invest in a battery system?
Aligned’s investment in a 31 MW battery system is a short-term, tactical move in a ‘two-speed’ strategy. The batteries help bypass immediate grid interconnection delays and bring data center capacity online faster to generate revenue now. This serves as a bridge solution while the company develops its more complex, long-term SMR power generation plan.

Where is Aligned planning to deploy its first SMRs?
Aligned Data Centers has explicitly identified its expanding campus in Ohio as the primary location for its SMR exploration. This move concentrates its efforts on a specific site, moving the plan from general interest to site-specific planning in a region with significant data center growth.